Strike This Pose

This image was in Men’s Journal in 1998 as part of an article on gifts for the man who has everything. It was grouped with some bespoke cowboy boots, the ever-present custom pool cue, and I am sure some other gadget that’s hard to get, costs a lot, and give you something to measure your self esteem by. I don’t remember much about the storyline or even the ordeal. They contacted me, asked for a bicycle to shoot, and told me where the studio was located. We drove to Manhattan, met the shooter who was “just” a freelancer that MJ hired for the job, and left. Before that, I did my ever loving best to explain which angles were better and the ones to avoid at all costs. The man never photographed bicycles before. I’m pretty sure he mind-dumpstered everything I told him by the time we were in the freight elevator. It’s an interesting pose, this. I’d never ask for it. I don’t absolutely love it. But I don’t hate it either. It worked very well in the pages of the magazine.
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